In a fascinating account of picture collections in the early 19th century through the eyes of a great English poet, Morton Paley tells the story of Coleridge's initiation into art in England, and his further exploration in Rome. He describes the collections Coleridge saw and his thoughts about the arts and about specific works. more...

The Traveller in the Evening is a study of Blake's poetry, art, and thought during the last years of his life, from 1818 to 1827. Morton Paley considers some of Blake's major accomplishments, including Blake's wood engravings for Thornton's Virgil, the separate plate known as The Laocoon, 101 illustrations to Dante's Divine Comedy, and the great series... more...

`The last man! I may well describe that solitary being's feelings, feeling myself as the last relic of a beloved race, my companions extinct before me.' Mary Shelley, Journal (May 1824).Best remembered as the author of Frankenstein, Mary Shelley wrote The Last Man eight years later, on returning to England from Italy after her husband's death.It is... more...

This interdisciplinary book honors Columbia professor and New York intellectual Carl Woodring. The depth of these original perspectives on the literature, art, politics, science, and philosophy of transatlantic nineteenth-century culture will foster future conversations. more...